Engine



ENGINE 1920 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Egon/amd Zh /Waa'de/z INVENTOR ATTORNEY L. L. MAIDEN Filed May 17,

Oct. 9 1923.

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WITNESS El Get.' 9 1923.

L.. L. MAIDEN ENGINE Filedl May 17 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Leon amil. Maz/'deff ATTOR NEY WITNESSE" oct, 9, 1923.4 A 1,470,462

L. L. MAIDEN ENGINE l Filed May 17. 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Patented Det. 9, 1923.

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. claims.

1n describing my inventionin detail, ref- UNITED STATES `LEONARD LEE MAIDEN, or nn'rnoinjiarcnreenj ENGINE.

Application filed May '17,

To dell fio/bom t may concern: i

Be it known that LEONARD LEE MAIDEN a citizen'of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and Statev of Michigan, has invented new and useful improvements in Engines, of which the fol-` engine so as to convert the reciprocatory` motions of the pistons to a rotary motionv of the cylinder. In thisaway the grooved cylinder will be rotated at high speed by vlong and slow strokes ofthe pistons in the engine cylinders. i

i nother object of the invention is to provide simple and effective means for controlling the valves of the engine bythe revolutions of the grooved cylinder. y

Still another object of the invention relates to the peculiar construction of the casing in which the grooved cylinder is` located and is provided with guiding means forv the piston rods. f

This invention also consists in certain other features of construction and in `the combination and arrangement of the several parts, to be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specifically pointed out in the appended i erence will be had to the 4accompanying drawings wherein like characters denote like or corresponding parts throughout the sev-r` eral views, and in which i Figure 1 is an elevation of the invention.r

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section thereof.

Figure 3 is a section on line 3 3 of` Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Figure 1.

` Figures 5 and 6 are enlarged detail view of the valve operating means.

ln these views l indicates a casing for the spirally grooved cylinder 2 and 3 indicates a plurality of engine cylinders which yare connected with one end of the cylinder and` which are arranged in a circle around the center of said cylinder. The drawing shows six of these engine cylinders. The cylinders are shown as being provided with the fins 4 so that the cylinder may be cooled by air iaeeseriai no. 381,882. i

but it will ofcourse be understood that they may be controlled by means' of a water jacket. `whichis attached a piston rod 6 Thefcasingis formed of a pluralitywof `longitudinally extending sections 7, eachsectionhaving a wing 8 extending outwardly there-` Avi-Em OFFICE- Vlachcylinder, contains a pistonv 5 toA from. Each wing is yprovided with an inrv terior passage 9 communicating `with the interior of` the casingand ending in a circu-` lar enlargement 10, saidenlargement form` ing a guideway for the piston rod. A pin` 11 extends at right angles from each piston rod and this pin is adaptedftoworkin the passage 9. Each "pin is'imade long enough` `towextend into the-casing Yandenga'ge the spiral grooves l2 of the cylinder 2. `As shown the cylinder is provid-ed with a pair of these grooves which pass around the cylinder in oppositedirections and have their ends connected together by rounded and enlarged portions so that the pin reaching the end of one groove will pass into the other grooveV on its return stroke. I place shoes 13 on the pins for keeping thexpin in engagement with the proper groove.

lt will thus be seen that the reciprocation of the pistons in their cylinders will cause the grooved cylinder to rotate and theparts are so arranged that as one of the pistons are being forcedv outwardly -by the explosive i the annular row of engine cylinders and has a reduced extremity 15 on which is mounted a revolving sleeve 16. This sleeve is geared to said part 15 so that it will rotate at slower speed than the cylinder. This sleeve 16 carries the cams 17 for operatingthc rocker arms 18 for the inlet and exhaust valves 19 of the engine cylinders. Each cylinder is provided with an inlet 2O and an outlet 21 and each cylinder is also provided `with the usual'spark plug 22 which is connected with the ignition system. The other reduced end of the cylinder is connected with the usual drive shaft 23.

l prefer to arrangel the pitch of the grooves in the cylinder 2 so as to cause said `cylinder to make six revolutionsto each double stroke of the piston and it will of llO course be understood that thel sleeve is so gearedto the end of the cylinder `as-to cause the proper operation of the valves tosecure the operation of the apparatus.

Itis thought from the foregoing descrip- `tion that the advantages and novel features n of my invention will lbe readily apparent.

of thesame, a spirally grooved cylinder inA said casing, said casing having outwardly extending Wings, each Wing having a passage 'and a guideway therein, a piston yin each engine cylinder,` a piston rod connected with eachV piston and extending` into the guideway, a pin on each rod extending through the` passage and engaging the groove 1n the vcylinder and meansv for controlling the valves in the engine cylinders by the rotation of said grooved cylinder.

2.An apparatus of the class described comprising a casing having outwardly extending Wings thereon, each Wing` having a guidevvay and apassage therein, a spirally grooved cylinder in said casing, a plurality of engine cylinders connected with one end of the casing and arranged in a circle about the center thereof, a piston in each engine cylinder, a piston rod connected With each piston, said rods extending into the guide Ways in the Wings of the casing, a pin on each rod extending through the passage and engaging the groove in the cylinder, an extension on the cylinder located in the center of' the space formed by the engine cylinders, a` rotatable sleeve on said extension,

gears for connecting the samewvith said ex` tension, cams on said sleeve, inlet and outlet valves, for each engine cylinder and rocker arms for said valves operated by said cams. i

In ltestimony Whereot I aiiix my signature.

LEONARD LEE MAIDEN. 

